Lady Bears Hope to Claim Big 12 Title on Thursday

Women's Basketball 3/5/2008 12:00:00 AM

March 5, 2008

WACO, Texas -

#8/8 Baylor (24-4, 12-3) vs. #20/19 Oklahoma State (22-6, 10-5)

Thursday, March 6 - 7:00 p.m.
Ferrell Center (10,284) - Waco, Texas

BAYLOR AND OKLAHOMA STATE
No. 8 Baylor puts its 17-game home win streak, the fifth-longest nationally, on the line when it hosts the 20th-ranked Oklahoma State Cowgirls at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday.

Baylor is 24-4 on the season and a league-leading 12-3 in Big 12 action while the Cowgirls are 22-6 overall which includes a 10-5 league mark.

The first meeting between Baylor and Oklahoma State, on Feb. 5 in Stillwater, resulted in a 77-67 Cowgirl win. Since that time, both squads have posted 4-3 marks.

With one conference game remaining, Baylor and 19th-ranked Kansas State sit atop the Big 12 standings at 12-3, while Oklahoma is one game back at 11-4.

SENIOR NIGHT
In pregame ceremonies on Thursday, the Lady Bears will honor their lone senior, Angela Tisdale.

Tisdale, an Austin, Texas native, is the program's all-time assist leader (456) and is the 24th player in program history to score 1,000 points. She currently ranks No. 16 on Baylor's career scoring list with 1,293 points and is No. 3 on the career 3-point list with 156 makes.

The 5-7 guard leads the Lady Bears this season in scoring at 15.8 points a game and hits an impressive 80.8 percent from the free throw line.

Throughout her four-year career, the Lady Bears have posted an impressive 109-22 record. She has played in 127 of the 131 games and started in 100.

WIN OR LOSE
Whether they win or lose on Thursday, the Lady Bears will be a top three seed in the Big 12 Championship for the fourth straight year and fifth time in Kim Mulkey's tenure. The 2008 season will mark the fourth time the Lady Bears have been a No. 1 or 2 seed.

A Baylor Victory Would...
- Ensure at least a tie for its second Big 12 championship. Kansas State plays at ninth-place Kansas on Wednesday while 11th-ranked Oklahoma plays at No. 17 Texas A&M on Thursday.

- Allow the Lady Bears to finish the season undefeated at home for just the second time in program history and extend its home win streak to 18 games.

- Mark the first time a Lady Bear squad has defeated every Big 12 team in a season (the 2005 team lost to Nebraska).

- Make Angela Tisdale the first Lady Bear to earn two Big 12 titles.

A Baylor Loss Would...
- Snap a 17-game home win streak

- Drop the Lady Bears to a No. 2 seed in the Big 12 Championship.

If Kansas State and Baylor tie for the regular season Big 12 championship, the Lady Bears would receive the No. 1 seed in league's postseason tournament by virtue of Baylor's win at Kansas State, 63-49. In the event of a Baylor loss and an Oklahoma victory, the Lady Bears would be guaranteed the championships' No. 2 seed since it won both head-to-head meetings against Oklahoma.

LADY BEAR LEADERS
With 28 games under their belt, the Lady Bears boast four players averaging double-digit scoring. Leading the way is the squad's lone senior, Big 12 Player of the Year and All-American candidate Angela Tisdale, with 15.9 a contest, while junior Rachel Allison, another All-Big 12 and All-American candidate, manages 12.8 points and a team-leading 8.5 rebounds a game. Junior guard/forward Jessica Morrow follows with 11.9 a contest and sophomore post Danielle Wilson comes off the bench to score 10.4 an outing.

In addition to Allison's 8.5 boards, two other players haul down 5.2 or more rebounds an outing. Wilson manages 6.6 a game while freshman Melissa Jones averages 5.2.

TISDALE'S CLUTCH PLAY LEADS TO LADY BEAR SUCCESS
Baylor's lone senior, Big 12 Player of the Year and All-American candidate, guard Angela Tisdale has shown that in the clutch, she can get it done.

- In Baylor's 59-56 win over No. 13 Texas A&M, Tisdale missed her first 10 3-point attempts, but made her only trey of the day with 38 seconds left to give the Bears a one-point lead in Baylor's 59-56 win.

- On the road against No. 11 Oklahoma, an 84-73 victory, Tisdale scored a career-high 35 points and helped put some distance between the Lady Bears and Sooners when she scored seven points in an 8-1 run midway through the second half. After sinking a 3-pointer from the top of the key, she scored a basket in transition off Melissa Jones' steal and then hit two free throws that extended Baylor's lead to 66-59 with 8 minutes remaining.

- In Baylor's one-point win over No. 25 Texas (61-60), Tisdale scored 19 points, including a game-winning 3-pointer with 19 seconds left.

- On the road at Iowa State, Tisdale, saddled with four fouls, was reinserted into the game at the 9:20 mark and led the Bears to a four-point win. She scored nine of her 14 points during that time frame including a jumper from the top of the key for the winning margin. She also found Rachel Allison for an easy score inside to give Baylor a three-point lead with 1:07 to go.

- Tisdale scored 30 points, including 17 on free throws, to lead No. 8 Baylor to a 76-62 victory over Colorado. In addition, she dished out six assists and committed no turnovers in 40 minutes of play.

DOING MORE WITH LESS
Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey is producing one of the most impressive coaching performances of her career, doing more with less. The Lady Bears, with no dominant scorer or rebounder returning as in past seasons, have posted a 24-4 overall record and, after being picked to finish third in the preseason coaches poll, are one victory away from winning a Big 12 championship.

Mulkey began the season with 10 players, using an eight player rotation. Until the season-ending injury to guard Jhasmin Player, all five Baylor starters were averaging double-digit scoring. With just nine players available and now using a seven player rotation, the Lady Bears have continued to roll and have stayed in contention to claim their second Big 12 regular season championship.

Baylor's strengths this season, in addition to balanced scoring, has been its stingy defense, a trademark of Mulkey-coached teams. Baylor leads the Big 12 Conference in field goal percentage defense (.350) and blocked shots (6.4) and ranks second in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.268).

HOME SWEET HOME
In Kim Mulkey's eight seasons along the Ferrell Center sidelines, her teams have posted some impressive numbers in the venue. The Lady Bears have maintained a 115-14 (.891) Ferrell Center record during that time span. Mulkey's first three seasons produced a 44-8 (.849) Ferrell Center mark while over the past five years the Lady Bears are 71-6 (.922).

The Lady Bears seek their second perfect home record in the program's history, the 2005 NCAA championship squad finished 14-0 at home.

2000-01 - 12-2
2001-02 - 15-2
2002-03 - 17-4
2003-04 - 12-2
2004-05 - 14-0
2005-06 - 12-1
2006-07 - 16-3
2007-08 - 17-0

ALLISON NAMED TO MIDSEASON NAISMITH TROPHY LIST
Junior Rachel Allison was among 31 players named to the 2008 Naismith Trophy midseason list recently announced by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.

The women's list, which includes 31 candidates because of a tie, was voted on by the Atlanta Tipoff Club's Board of Selectors, comprised of leading basketball journalists, coaches and administrators from around the country. The board based its criteria on player performances this season, and the list was narrowed down from the preseason list of 50 candidates who were announced at the beginning of the season.

A Big 12 Player of the Week selection this season, Allison, a 6-1 forward, averages 12.8 points and a team-leading 8.5 rebounds a game. The Jonesboro, Ark., native ranks among the league leaders in rebounding (3rd), steals (12th) and scoring (18th).

DEFENSE
Superior defense as well as a balanced offense has led Baylor to a 24-4 season mark. The Lady Bears rank among the NCAA's leaders in several defensive categories: No. 46 in blocked shots (6.4), No. 9 field goal percentage defense (.350), No. 18 scoring defense (55.6) and No. 75 steals (10.0).

Among Big 12 defensive categories (all games), the Lady Bears are No. 1 in field goal percentage defense and blocks and No. 2 in scoring defense and 3-point field goal percentage defense. In league games only, Baylor ranks No. 1 in field goal percentage defense (.372); No. 2 in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.272) and blocks (5.53).

TISDALE JOINS ELITE GROUP
With her 18-point performance against Rice, senior point guard Angela Tisdale became the 24th Lady Bear to score 1,000 career points. She now has 1,293 career points to her credit and ranks No. 16 on Baylor's all-time scoring list.

In addition, she is No. 3 on Baylor's career 3-point list with 156 makes. In Baylor's 84-73 victory at 11th-ranked Oklahoma, Tisdale poured in a career-high 35 points, 15 of which came from 3-point range.

TISDALE CLAIMS TOP SPOT ON BAYLOR ASSIST CHART
With her nine assists against Texas Tech on Feb. 9, Angela Tisdale became Baylor's all-time assists leader. Her 459 career assists surpassed former Lady Bear Chelsea Whitaker's school-record of 457, Tisdale has since extended that mark to 476.

ALLISON'S GOT A NOSE FOR THE BALL
Despite being the shortest of Baylor's posts, 6-1 junior Rachel Allison leads the Lady Bears in rebounding at 8.5 a game and ranks No. 3 in the Big 12 Conference statistics. She has hauled down 237 rebounds this season (38.4 percent of which are off the offensive glass), including a career-high tying 14 at Oklahoma State. In addition, she has registered a team-leading 49 steals, 33 assists and 17 blocks on the year.

BAYLOR'S BLOCK MACHINE, WILSON TIES BAYLOR CAREER BLOCK RECORD
Sophomore post Danielle Wilson now has 159 career blocks and is tied with Steffanie Blackmon (2001-05) on Baylor's career list. Entering last Saturday's game versus Texas A&M, Wilson needed six blocks to tie the mark and she recorded six, four of which came in the first half.

In addition, Wilson owns two of the Big 12's top marks this season in blocks when she rejected nine shots against Oregon and seven at 11th-ranked Oklahoma. In fact, four of Wilson's seven against Oklahoma came in the second half with the Sooners' two-time All-American Courtney Paris as the victim.

She has blocked 73 shots which ranks No. 2 in the conference in block average at 2.7 a game, that mark also ranks her No. 12 nationally.

In Baylor's 61-60 homecourt victory over Texas, the Longhorns had a chance at winning the game, but Kathleen Nash's shot with 3.4 seconds left was blocked by Wilson, her only rejection of the game.

Last year in her rookie campaign, Wilson blocked a school-record 86 shots. She needs just 14 more this season to break that mark.

BAYLOR QUICK HITS

- In Angela Tisdale's four-year career, Baylor has posted 109-22 record, winning 83.2 percent of its games. Tisdale has played in 127 of the 131 games and started in 100.

- The trio of Danielle Wilson (73), Jessika Bradley (34) and Jessica Morrow (32) have combined for 139 of the team's 178 season blocks.

- In Baylor's 24 victories this season posts Rachel Allison (13.7), Danielle Wilson (11.1) and Jessika Bradley (5.2) have combined to average 30.0 points a game while in its four losses they have averaged 16.3 points; Allison 7.3, Wilson 6.3 and Bradley 2.8.

- Versus Baylor's nine ranked opponents this season, Angela Tisdale averages 18.3 points a game while Jessica Morrow manages 14.5 a contest.

- Baylor's current 17-game home win streak ranks No. 5 nationally and it has won 58 of its last 62 home games.

- Entering the 2007-08 season, Baylor ranked No. 7 on the NCAA's Winningest Teams During the Last Five Years list with 135 victories. Schools ranking ahead of the Lady Bears are: Duke (159), Tennessee (159), Connecticut (157), LSU (151), North Carolina (149) and Stanford (141).

- Baylor ranks among the top eight in all four RPI rating services: No. 6 in collegerpi.com, No. 7 in both College Basketball News and NCAA and No. 9 in Jeff Sagarin. This ranks No. 1 among Big 12 schools while the Big 12 ranks No. 1 in all RPI listings as a conference.

- The contest against No. 20 Oklahoma State on Thursday marks Baylor's 10th game versus a ranked opponent in 2007-08; Baylor is now 6-3 versus ranked teams. It defeated then-No. 12 California (69-56), lost to then-No. 5 Stanford (87-63), downed then-No. 13 Texas A&M (59-56), twice triumphed over 11th/10th-rated Oklahoma (84-73, 79-59), beat 25th-ranked Texas (61-60), defeated #18 Kansas State (63-49), lost at Oklahoma State (77-67) and lost at #20 Texas A&M (72-53).

- 2007-08 team captains - senior Angela Tisdale and juniors Rachel Allison and Jhasmin Player.

- Baylor ranks in the top 25 in NCAA Division I statistics in seven categories as of games through March 2: No. 4 in blocked shots (6.4); No. 5 in home court win streak (17); No. 9 in field goal percentage defense (35.0); No. 10 in scoring margin (+17.3); No. 13 in won-lost percentage (85.75); No. 18 in scoring defense (55.6) and No. 22 in rebounding margin (+6.7).

- Danielle Wilson's 2.7 blocks per game rank her No. 12 nationally.

- BU is 109-21 (.838) since the start of the 2004-05 season with 18 of the 22 setbacks coming at the hands of nationally ranked opponents. Of Baylor's last 17 losses, 16 have come to ranked opponents.

- Danielle Wilson has blocked at least one shot in 53 of 61 career games, including 4 or more 19 times and 3 or more on 23 occasions. Wilson's wing span is 82.25 inches, only 5 inches less than Mamadou Diene, the 7-foot center on the Baylor men's team.

- With her 1,293 points and 476 assists, Angela Tisdale is the fourth player in school history to score more than 1,000 points and dish out at least 400 career assists.

- Baylor led NCAA Division I last season in blocks per game with 7.2. So far this season the Lady Bears are averaging 6.4 a contest to rank No. 4 nationally.

SCOUTING THE COWGIRLS
The 20th-ranked Oklahoma State Cowgirls, 22-6 on the season and 10-5 in conference action, enter the game winners four of their last seven since defeating the Lady Bears in Stillwater.

OSU head coach Kurt Budke is in his third season as the Cowgirls' head coach and 15th year as a head coach overall. Budke is 48-39 in his three seasons at OSU and 126-55 in six NCAA Division I campaigns. He is 1-4 versus Baylor.

Sophomore guard Andrea Riley, leads the Cowgirls in scoring average with a league-leading 22.6 a game. Junior guard Danielle Green scores 13.6 a game and hauls down 7.4 rebounds, while junior forward Shaunte' Smith leads the Cowgirls in rebounding at 8.3.

SERIES RECORD
Baylor and Oklahoma State will meet for the 27th time when the two teams square off on Thursday evening. Baylor leads the series 18-8 and has claimed victory in 13 of the last 16 outings. OSU's most recent triumph over Baylor came on Feb. 2 in Stillwater, 77-67.

The Lady Bears are 12-1 versus the Cowgirls in Waco. OSU's lone victory over Baylor in Waco came on Feb. 6, 1999, 58-56, which marked the only year it swept the season series with Baylor.

Mulkey owns an 12-3 record against OSU, including 7-0 in Waco.

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